About

Stephanie L. Martin, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and behavioral interventions aimed at improving nutrition during pregnancy, lactation, and childhood both in the United States and globally. She conducts implementation research to understand health workers' experiences providing lactation support and maternal and child health services in regions such as North Carolina, Appalachia, and Zambia. Dr. Martin is involved in exploring support for safe infant feeding practices after Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina and examining interventions to enhance family support for infant feeding and nurturing care in Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Her previous work has identified successful strategies to increase adherence to prenatal micronutrient supplementation and improve infant feeding practices in various international settings. With a 13-year background as a public health practitioner, she has implemented policies and programs at multiple levels and developed training and communication materials to promote maternal, child, and adolescent health, as well as HIV prevention and treatment. She currently hosts the Family Inclusion in Nutrition through Engagement (FINE) Community of Practice, which engages members worldwide interested in involving family members to support nutrition.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Political Science
• Medicine
• Sociology
• Medical emergency
• Environmental health
• Criminology
• Clinical psychology
• Social psychology
• Gerontology
• Psychotherapist
• Demography
• Pathology
• Psychiatry

Selected publications

• And they’re off! Should Kentucky Derby gamblers slow down?

  Significance · 2026-04-16

  articleSenior author

  Abstract The Kentucky Derby in May is one of the most famous horse-races in the world. Lawrence L. Kupper and Sandra L. Martin look at how favourites and long shots perform in this race and others in the sport’s illustrious “Triple Crown”

  PublisherDOI

• Health care utilization by women sexual assault survivors after emergency care: Results of a multisite prospective study

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-10 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Approximately, 100,000 US women receive emergency care after sexual assault each year, but no large-scale study has examined the incidence of posttraumatic sequelae, receipt of health care, and frequency of assault disclosure to providers. The current study evaluated health outcomes and service utilization among women in the 6 weeks after sexual assault. METHODS: Women ≥18 years of age presenting for emergency care after sexual assault to twelve sites were approached. Among those willing to be contacted for the study (n = 1080), 706 were enrolled. Health outcomes, health care utilization, and assault disclosure were assessed via 6 week survey. RESULTS: Three quarters (76%) of women had posttraumatic stress, depression, or anxiety, and 65% had pain. Less than two in five reported seeing health care provider; receipt of care was not related to substantive differences in symptoms and was less likely among Hispanic women and women with a high school education or less. Nearly one in four who saw a primary care provider did not disclose their assault, often due to shame, embarrassment, or fear of being judged. CONCLUSION: Most women receiving emergency care after sexual assault experience substantial posttraumatic sequelae, but health care in the 6 weeks after assault is uncommon, unrelated to substantive differences in need, and limited in socially disadvantaged groups. Lack of disclosure to primary care providers was common among women who did receive care.

  PublisherDOI

• Predicting victory in golf

  Significance · 2025-03-28

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Your favourite player is leading after three rounds of a major golf championship. But how likely is he or she to be crowned the winner? With the Men’s and Women’s US Opens just around the corner, Lawrence L. Kupper and Sandra L. Martin offer some statistical savvy

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Experiences of Women Sexual Assault Survivors With Police in the Early Aftermath of Assault: Results From a Large-scale Prospective Study

  Journal of Forensic Nursing · 2025-09-23

  articleSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Over 100,000 women present for emergency care after sexual assault (SA) annually in the United States. No large-scale prospective studies have assessed SA survivor experiences with police. AIMS: To evaluate SA survivor experiences with the police. METHODS: A large-scale longitudinal study was conducted of women who received SA nurse examiner examinations after presenting to the emergency department following SA at 12 sites ( n = 706). RESULTS: At six weeks ( n = 630), most women were interested in speaking with the police (75%), spoke with police, and reported positive experiences. Latinas and women with lower income were less likely to speak with police ( χ2 = 4.76, p = 0.0370; χ2 = 11.37, p = 0.0008). Survivors with greater posttraumatic stress and previous trauma report worse experiences with police. Qualitative comments provide key points for police to consider. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates high contact and overall satisfaction with police. However, disparities remain among Latinas, survivors with lower socioeconomic status, and survivors with previous life trauma.

  PublisherDOI

• Commentary on the commentary “On measurement error, PSA doubling time, and prostate cancer”

  Global Epidemiology · 2025-02-11

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Sexual assault of college students: victimization and perpetration prevalence involving cisgender men, cisgender women and gender minorities

  UNC Libraries · 2025-07-12

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  <strong>Objective</strong> To study eight types of sexual assault among cisgender women, cisgender men and gender minority college students, estimating the prevalence of perpetration by persons of particular gender identities. <strong>Participants and Methods:</strong> 13,685 sexual assault survivors were surveyed. For each type of sexual assault victimization experienced by cisgender women, cisgender men and gender minorities, prevalence estimates assessed the extent of perpetration by persons of each gender identity. <strong>Results:</strong> Cisgender men were the most prevalent perpetrators of all types of sexual assault against cisgender women and gender minorities. Cisgender women were the most prevalent perpetrators of five types of sexual assault against cisgender men, with cisgender women and cisgender men being similarly likely to perpetrate three types of sexual assault against cisgender men. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> Cisgender men perpetrate most sexual assaults against cisgender women and gender minority students; cisgender women and cisgender men perpetrate most sexual assaults against cisgender men students.

  PublisherDOI

• Associations between IPV and non-communicable diseases: a systematic review

  BMC Public Health · 2025-09-30 · 1 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with a range of adverse physical health outcomes; however, its specific influence on the health trajectories of individuals living with chronic disease remains underexplored. This systematic review investigates the intersection of IPV and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with a focus on four leading conditions: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes. Advancing understanding in this area is essential for informing the development of targeted IPV prevention and intervention strategies, improving clinical care for affected populations, and shaping health equity policy responses. METHODS: Guided by the research question, "How does experiencing IPV influence the burden, progression, or management of non-communicable diseases among adults diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, or diabetes?", the review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO, yielding 39 eligible studies. Included studies focused on adults diagnosed with at least one of the four target NCDs, experiences of IPV occurring in adulthood, and assessed outcomes related to disease burden, progression, or healthcare management. Findings were synthesized narratively due to heterogeneity in study designs, populations, and IPV measurement. A Risk of Bias assessment was completed using JBI Critical Appraisal Tools. RESULTS: The review identified consistent positive associations between IPV and adverse outcomes across cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory disease, based on findings from 39 studies. Cancer emerged as the most frequently studied condition, with 19 publications, of which 14 focused specifically on breast or gynecological cancers. In contrast, research on the other NCDs was more limited, revealing an uneven distribution of scholarly attention and underscoring important gaps for future investigation. Risk of bias appraisal showed that 94.9% (n = 37) of studies had a low risk of bias, while 5.1% (n = 2) were rated as having moderate risk. Across study designs, the most frequent methodological concern was related to the reliability and validity of IPV survey instruments. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights a growing body of evidence linking IPV with worsened outcomes for individuals living with NCDs. To advance the field, future research should prioritize the development and implementation of IPV screening tools tailored to NCD populations, adopt standardized IPV definitions and measurement strategies, and expand the use of longitudinal designs to better understand causal pathways and long-term health impacts.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• LGBTQ+-Affirming Campus Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention: A Qualitative Study

  UNC Libraries · 2025-05-06

  articleOpen access

  LGBTQ+ (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, queer) people are often left out of campus sexual and relationship violence (SRV) prevention efforts despite experiencing higher rates of SRV. To inform LGBTQ+-affirming prevention efforts, we use a practice-to-research approach to aggregate wisdom from 32 LGBTQ+ professionals working to address campus SRV among LGBTQ+ college students garnered through semi-structured interviews. Participants shared four approaches to including or excluding LGBTQ+ students in campus SRV prevention programs as well as recommendations to cultivate more LGBTQ+-affirming campus SRV prevention efforts. We summarize recommendations for possible action steps at individual, relationship, community, and policy levels of the social ecological model for LGBTQ+-affirming campus SRV prevention.

  PublisherDOI

• “I still feel so lost”: experiences of women receiving SANE care during the year after sexual assault

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-10

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: Emergency caregivers provide initial care to women sexual assault (SA) survivors. An improved understanding of the issues facing this population can aide emergency care practitioners in providing high quality care. The goal of this study was to share the experiences of women SA survivors with the emergency care practitioners that care for them. METHODS: English-speaking adult women (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;706) who received SA Nurse Examiner (SANE) evaluation within 72&nbsp;hours of SA at 1 of 13 geographically distributed sites were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal multi-site observational study. We qualitatively analyzed responses to the open-ended question: "What do you think is most important for researchers to understand about your experience since the assault?" asked 1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after enrollment. RESULTS: Themes from responses (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;1434) from 590 women (84% of study sample) fell into 12 broad categories: daily life, justice, medical, and social services, mental health, physical health, prior trauma, recovery, romantic relationships, safety, self, shame, and social interactions. Responses demonstrated that the assault permeates many aspects of assault survivors' daily lives. CONCLUSIONS: Qualitative analyses of open-ended responses from a large cohort of women SA survivors receiving SANE care highlight the challenges for survivors and can increase understanding among the emergency care practitioners who care for them. The authors propose a brief acronym to help emergency care practitioners recall important messages for SA survivors.

  PublisherDOI

• Blood pressure is associated with ultra-processed food intake in a sex- and age-specific manner during the transition to adulthood in Cebu, Philippines.

  UNC Libraries · 2025-12-11

  articleOpen access

  Progression toward elevated blood pressure (BP) may begin as early as adolescence. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are linked to poor cardiometabolic health, is often highest in adolescence. We examined sex- and age-specific associations of systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) with concurrent and lagged UPF intake from age 15 to 25 in a Filipino cohort. We used data from the 1998-2009 waves of the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (n=2,124, 52% male); participants were 15, 18, 21, and 25 years old. UPFs (% daily kilocalories) were classified using NOVA. Linear mixed-effects models estimated differences in SBP and DBP associated with a 5-percentage point difference in concurrent and lagged UPF intake (3-4 years earlier). Mean UPF intake was 10-11% of total energy intake among males and 14-17% among females over the study period. At age 21, intake of ultra-processed meats and fish was positively associated with DBP (&beta;=0.48 [95% CI: 0.02, 0.94]) among males and intake of ultra-processed sugary beverages was positively associated with SBP (0.80 [0.13, 1.48]) and DBP (0.93 [0.34, 1.51]) among females. Among females only, SBP at age 18 was positively associated with total UPF intake at age 15 (0.25 [0.00, 0.50]). In this cohort, there were modest, positive associations between BP and UPF intake, which varied by sex and age. UPF intake during the transition to adulthood may be linked to higher BP, supporting efforts to limit adolescents' intake in LMICs.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R29MH056540

  NIH · $505k · 2003

Frequent coauthors

• Lawrence L. Kupper

  University of Edinburgh

  39 shared

• Megan Lechner

  Memorial Hospital

  34 shared

• Rebecca J. Macy

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  30 shared

• Jennie Buchanan

  University of Colorado Denver

  30 shared

• Kathryn E. Moracco

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  27 shared

• Israel Liberzon

  Mitchell Institute

  26 shared

• Samuel A. McLean

  24 shared

• Julien Wojak

  Centrale Marseille

  20 shared

Labs

• UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health - Department of NutritionPI